LogFAQs > #969244665

Towards the end of 4th gen was the first time that most mythicals were available and accessible internationally. You could catch every pokemon with just 2 games and a bit of trading for version exclusives, and the GTS was an option. Johto remakes finished bringing back everything that was lost when 3rd gen cut off the old games. It was really "complete." How should that be followed up?

Black and White took us far away, to a region inspired by NYC instead of another region of Japan. They tried an actual story, they gave us good rivals, and most importantly they gave us all new pokemon. After finally completing a national dex with 493 pokemon, there was a whole new land to conquer. The biggest generation ever. When you get to a new route you can actually get excited to explore the grass and find new pokemon. You'll never face the disappointment of running into hoothoot, zubat, buneary, or ponyta.

Of course, once you reach the post game they start mixing in, which is just the right time for it. And for people that really want older pokemon for their playthrough, they could get them through the Dream World, which also gave them new hidden abilities to make them feel fresh. And then obviously, you could transfer all your old pokemon in the post game as well, which is how it always should be. But for that first playthrough it was just so amazing to have everything new. One of the best decisions Gamefreak ever made.

Black 2 and White 2 were also great and improved on the previous games in many ways. Doing actual sequels instead of third version added a lot. And those games mixed a healthy (still relatively low) amount of old pokemon into the routes, which was right for a game that was a return to a region rather than a first visit.